Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
 |
Checking for direct PDF access through Ovid | |
Excerpt
A. Brownstein. New York: Pocket Books: Simon & Schuster, Inc; 1999. ISBN: 0-7434-2464-6. $14.95.
The book is about a physician’s personal experience with back pain during the past 20 years. Dr Brownstein initially explains his first encounter of back pain, how it was treated with standard medical care, and the failure of the surgery to eliminate his pain. He then begins to look for alternative methods after realizing “not all back pain is cured by surgery” and he must identify his own solution to his problems.
He believes that by identifying the key problems causing the back pain we can get at the root of the pain. He states that the individual should address with himself or herself what caused the problem, if the problem causing the back pain, if the pain permanent or can be healed, and what will make the pain go away and cause healing at the same time. After these questions are answered, Dr Brownstein approaches back pain by using a holistic approach by incorporating the theory of mind–body relationships. He also explains how managing a positive attitude, diet, posture, and low stress can help eliminate back pain. He concludes the book with exercises to strengthen back muscles as well as what to do in a “back” emergency. The book is easy to read and provides insight to the mind–body connection that enables the reader to understand how the muscles of the back are linked to the brain, which executes our emotional reactions to situations. The book was based on an individual’ s own suffering with chronic back pain, despite the use of medical treatment. It empowers the individual to seek alternative methods for chronic pain as the author has, allowing him to heal and to be whole again.
This book can be recommended for a patient suffering from chronic back pain as an alternative treatment method. It can also be recommended for healthcare providers for a holistic alternative method of care for their clients with chronic back pain for which the cause cannot be found.
